Jodi Nunnari, a distinguished professor and chair in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, is one of four UC Davis professors who have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Founded in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock and others, the academy honors excellence and includes leaders from every field of human endeavor including scientists, artists, performers, poets and political leaders.

Nunnari is a pioneer in the biology of mitochondria, the structures that produce energy inside cells. Mitochondria have their own DNA and are linked to a wide range of diseases, including heart disease, stroke and inherited disorders. Nunnari was the first to describe mitochondria as dynamic networks in homeostatic balance, and her laboratory deciphered the mechanisms responsible for mitochondrial division and fusion.

Nunnari studied chemistry at the College of Wooster before attaining a doctoral degree in pharmacology from Vanderbilt University. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco.

Nunnari is also a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization.